Verdy are right to be concerned over Mboma
No wonder that Tokyo Verdy 1969 manager Ossie Ardiles is "worried" about his star striker, Patrick Mboma.
Mboma was planning to have an operation at the end of last season to clear up a minor knee problem.
It would have meant him missing the African Cup of Nations but being ready for the start of the new J.League season in March.
But when the Cameroon president insisted Mboma be included in the Indomitable Lions' squad, the player delayed the surgery and went to Tunisia.
Cameroon are now in the quarterfinals, where they will meet Nigeria, after Mboma scored four times in Group C action, including a hat-trick against Zimbabwe.
Ardiles, therefore, has mixed emotions.
On the one hand he is happy Mboma is happy, scoring goals for his country.
On the other, Ardiles does not want a minor problem becoming a major one.
"He is going to have the operation straight away after Cameroon are eliminated, but to be perfectly honest I am a little bit worried," Ardiles said this week at Verdy's Yomiuri Land headquarters.
"It's touch and go if he can start the season, and he is crucial for us."
The African Cup final is February 14, and Mboma said he would need "five or six weeks" to be match fit after the operation.
So if the Lions go all the way to the final, there is little chance Mboma will be ready for the March 13 J.League kickoff.
Verdy officials were hoping that Mboma would have the operation immediately after the Emperor's Cup, and rule himself out of the African Cup.
But the draw of playing for his country proved too great.
Having stayed in the same Niigata hotel as the Cameroon squad at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, I could see there is really a special bond between the players. They are like one big family, which made the tragic death of Marc-Vivien Foe last year in France even harder to deal with.
By the way, I hear former Verdy midfielder Ramon might be joining JEF United Ichihara. Manager Ivica Osim says he needs an experienced player who can hold the ball in midfield and conduct the attack.
JEF have also been linked with former Verdy and Marinos striker Marquinhos, as a replacement for Choi Yong Soo, now on loan at Kyoto.
All should be revealed within a week or so.
ends
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